Drink-a-Pint

Thursday night, F.X. Matt brewery in Utica, New York, maker of Saranac beer and ale, was engulfed in flames as four fire companies battled a fire and residents were evacuated from a six-block area surrounding the brewery.

Early reports are that the fire originated on the second floor of the bottling shop and quickly spread to the upper floors. Employees have said that a welding project may be to blame.

The brewery employees more than 100 people in the area, but some will be returning to work as early as Monday as Saranac resumes their kegging operations. No word yet on how the fire will affect Saranac’s ability to continue producing beer in the near future beyond the batches that need to be kegged.

Saranac sent the following message out on Friday:

As some of you may have heard, last evening, a major portion of our production facility was destroyed by fire. While the Brewery operations remain shutdown, it is our intention to rebuild our Brewery and plans are already underway to do so in the most efficient manner possible.

We cannot possibly thank everyone for their generous outpouring of support for our organization during this difficult time. We extend our deepest gratitude to the City of Utica Fire & Police Departments as well as surrounding municipal fire departments for their efforts to control this devastating situation. Having been faced with many challenges over our 120 year history, we are extremely confident in our ability to rebuild this area of our operations and come back stronger than ever. Thank you all for your support of Saranac Beer and Soft Drinks.”

Best wishes to everyone at Saranac for a speedy recovery. I’m looking forward to enjoying your “beers of Summer” next weekend…